Friday, February 12, 2010

Friday Field Trip - Northern California

When writing, setting is as much a part of the book as the characters. Often it becomes a character. A few years back, the hubster had a meeting at Humboldt State College in Arcata, California. This region gets a lot of rain. My intent was to sit in our hotel room, which was way out in the middle of nowhere, and write. But, the sun kept shining. I figured I'd take advantage of the good weather and write the next day, and the next. We had no rain, only sun. Although I didn't write much, I did see some great scenery, much of which turned up in Hidden Fire, when Randy's investigation brought him to, coincidentally, the exact same locations I'd visited.

Bodega Bay, (which looks a lot like the spot where Randy admired the view)




Old Town in Eureka, where Randy & Sarah questioned an art gallery worker.






The Boardwalk, where Randy & Sarah shared ice cream, and a little innuendo



One of the trails behind campus, where Randy ran into serious trouble.



View from the trail



The stream where Sarah helped Randy soothe his wounds.



The redwoods, where Randy wanted to hike with Sarah before I threw more bad stuff his way.









Have a great weekend, a Happy Valentine's Day, and I'll see you next week. If you enjoy these posts, please share with your friends.

11 comments:

jdsanc said...

What beautiful pictures! I'm a Sacramento girl, now in MA, and those pics brought back so many great memories. It is some beautiful country! Last time I was there, I went to see the redwoods, even more majestic than I remembered.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Okay, this LOOKS like a warm place. I'm going to at least pretend it's warm because I'm freezing my rear end off in NC right now! Thanks for the pics, Terry, and hope the packing et al is going well!

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

Terry Odell said...

JD, Elizabeth - my pleasure. Brought back some memories for me, too!

Wynter said...

Pretty pictures. I can totally see Randy and Sarah in Eureka. You did a great job in the book of describing it.

Kristi Faith said...

Ah, I'm homesick again. LOL I lived closer to the East side of Northern CA, but I visited Arcata a lot for the beaches. Not crowded, and absolutely gorgeous!!

Carol Kilgore said...

Absolutely gorgeous. I can see why you placed Randy there. I wanna go!

Terry Odell said...

Taking a brief break to say thanks to all who have commented that they're enjoying the photos. I wish I were there myself right about now. But first, have to make sure I have everything for tomorrow's trip to Jacksonville.

Terry Stonecrop said...

Beautiful photos. Wasn't Bodega Bay in Hitchcock's, "The Birds"?

I like the way you told us little tidbits about the novel scenes.

Good luck tomorrow.

Beth Groundwater said...

Hi Terry,
I have nominated you for the "Creative Writer" blog award at my blog (http://bethgroundwater.blogspot.com/). I hope you have fun playing the game! ;-)
- Beth

Jemi Fraser said...

Wow! That tree is incredible! Definitely fodder for the imagination :)

Terry Odell said...

"Other" Terry - I think so, but I haven't checked. It's gorgeous either way.

Beth - thanks -- I'll have to check when I get back to my PC

Jemi - our road trip that year ended up in Hidden Fire -- who could possibly not set at least some scenes there.